Washington, D.C. — A client reached out to see if I could mimic a Victorian-era love letter. Since I did not have vintage paper on hand, nor had the time to go look for some, I had to craft my own.

After doing some research on distressing paper and consulting with the ever-knowledgeable gang at the Flourish Forum, I was able to transform my Strathmore ivory stock into vintage-like paper, complete with faux deckle edges, smudges of "dirt", and a whole lot of wrinkles. To enhance the overall look, I mixed Higgins Eternal ink—which is fairly grey in color already—with walnut ink to achieve the faded aesthetic of the letter.

It turned out to be quite the labor of love, and I believe that the end result captured the heartfelt words that lay within.

Tea-Staining the Paper

I brushed on a weak brew of Earl Grey tea onto the paper. The scent was quite nice to work with.

Faux Deckle Edges

While the paper was still wet, I carefully ripped the edges. The erratic edge gave the paper a lot of character.

Painting the Edges

I added more stain by painting the edges with the Eternal-walnut ink mix.

More Staining

After evaluating the paper as it started to dry a bit, I decided to add another coat of stain.

Drying the Paper

I covered the paper in Saran Wrap and sandwiched it between the pages of a heavy art book. The plastic wrap helped protect the paper while drying, and also added little bumps and wrinkles to the paper's surface.

Preparing the Writing Surface

Since the paper was exhibiting "water damage", it was important to prepare the writing surface with gum sandarac, which helps correct any bleeding of the ink.

The Lettering

I chose a mix of cursive and Spencerian for the penmanship of the letter. I minimized the shading of the letterforms, so as not to compete with the words themselves. The result was a simple but romantic kind of lettering.